


Back To You, It Always Comes Around

by teenuviel1227



Series: Commissions July-August 2018 [2]
Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Jae's family make an appearance, Jaehyungparkian, M/M, Sammy from The Rose makes an appearance too, fake dating au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-12 23:54:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15351594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teenuviel1227/pseuds/teenuviel1227
Summary: When Jae’s sister tells him to bring a date to her wedding for fuck’s sake and his bestfriend-slash-roommate Brian says he’ll do it without even being asked, Jae doesn’t even begin to anticipate what it’ll mean for the both of them.Or the AU where Jaehyungparkian fake date--which leads to them real dating.





	1. Over You, I’m Never Over You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [antijosh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/antijosh/gifts).



> This is a commission for Errie, who is an awesome fic author herself and whose work you should definitely check out. :) 
> 
> I still have six slots open for commissions; all info here: https://twitter.com/teenuviel1227/status/1016158507526000643
> 
> Twitter/CC: @teenuviel1227

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A phone call, an offer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twitter/CC: @teenuviel1227

“I thought you said that you were dating someone,” Jae’s sister says on the screen--and even in 144p, Jae can see her blurry brows furrow in disappointment. “Or did you just tell me that to shut me up again?”

“--I--” Jae opens his mouth to speak but nothing comes out, all of the excuses that he could make up already used up previously, on numerous other occasions. “I mean, I _am_ dating someone, it’s just that the guy--he--uh--”

“--do you usually call your boyfriends _the guy_? What’s his damn name?”

“Watch out, it’s the freaking FBI--”

“--Jae, let me be frank with you. You aren’t getting any younger. When I was your age--”

“--it was a different _time_ ,” Jae says for what feels like the fifty-millionth time since he turned twenty, five years ago, and his sister’s Jae-must-settle-down-soon alarm had gone off. “Look, people in your generation, they’re all about that stability and mortgage-is-life stuff but people in my generation, we all about that _experience_ , do you feel me? You guys want land, we want to be on the move--”

“--I thought that’s because _my generation_ fucked the economy up so badly that you guys can’t afford anything. Isn’t that what you said last Christmas when Eomma asked about--”

“--let me finish talking, please. We don’t turn twenty and suddenly get hot for marriage. We’re all about travel and making memories--”

“--is that why you still live in that shitty apartment with Brian? ‘Cause you two are making memories of what, like, having frozen brownie batter for dinner? You guys travelling to the 7/11 and seeing the sights? Is going out to the cineplex to watch a movie in white wigs and oversized glasses with the geriatrics on Seniors Day suddenly a once-in-a-lifetime thing?”

“Hey,” Brian says from where he’s lying on the couch, half-reading a book, half-dozing off. “It’s not _shitty_ , it’s _homey_ . And the batter was _one time_ , not our fault the oven broke. Also, _elderly folk_ is the politically correct term and they’re really nice and the movie is _free_!”

“Right,” Jae’s sister says. “And hi, Brian. You guys don’t even have separate _rooms_ for fuck’s sake--”

“--it’s that damned economy,” Jae retorts, knowing that he’s going in circles but not really caring. “And the generation that fucked it up.”

“As your _big sister_ I feel like the best wedding gift would be to see my _baby brother_ actually dance with someone at the reception. And it would be good for Eomma and Appa too, you know.”

“Oh ‘cause they were so accepting when I came out?”

“They were just afraid that you wouldn’t be able to find someone who loves you--”

“--that makes me feel so much better--”

“--they were just concerned. Last week Appa said he hopes you bring your boyfriend--”

“--I told you...my...boyfriend’s...busy that weekend--”

“--so you’re sticking with your story that he exists? This nameless boyfriend man? Because I mean, I know a couple of people with little brothers that’d be more than willing to date some hot-shot documentary producer from Los Angeles, you know--”

Jae snorts. “--I’m an _executive assistant._ And hah, I’m sure _all_ guys my age from Philadelphia are just _dying_ to date someone they’ll never see because first of all, he lives in California, and second of all, he’s so busy he literally can’t even keep a cactus alive--”

“--not _everyone_ I know is from Philadelphia, genius--”

“--I’m sticking to my story then. I’m taken, my boyfriend who you will never meet can’t go to the wedding because reasons, but I will be there nonetheless, your baby brother helping you out--”

“--I’ll arrange the blind dates, then--I have the profiles right here. So one guy’s really into grunge music, plays in a pretty successful band. I mean he’s from Seattle, but he’s got the money to fly to LA and his band has a tour date there in a few months plus it could make for a good, romantic road trip type scenario for you guys if it works out--”

“--please stop--”

“--there’s another guy taking up his MA at Stanford so that solves the distance. I mean he isn’t there _yet_ but he will be in the fall so I mean, a couple of dates and maybe see where it goes--”

Jae’s gaze meets Brian. Brian grins, mouths _you okay?_

Jae rolls his eyes. _Save me._

“I can _see_ you rolling your eyes at Brian, Jae--”

“--well, ‘cause you won’t listen--”

“--no _you_ won’t listen--”

“--Jae’s taken,” Brian pipes up, finally sitting up from his perch on the couch, putting the book down on the coffee table and crossing the small apartment to sit beside Jae on the bed. He waves into the screen where Jae’s sister’s eyebrows have disappeared into her hairline from shock.

“He’s got a boyfriend.”

“A real one? With a name?”

“Yup. It’s a great name too.”

Jae shoots Brian a confused look.

“You don’t have to cover for him,” Jae’s sister says, rolling her eyes. “The Park family has at least _one_ honest member. I meant it about the blind dates.”

“I know,” Brian says, putting an arm around Jae’s shoulder, skimming his nose softly against Jae’s  cheek, letting his lips ghost over the soft skin.

Jae’s cheeks warm up, his heart skipping in surprise, caught off guard at the sture. _What the actual fuck is happening?_

“That’s why I’m telling you. Jae has a boyfriend. His name is Brian Kang and we didn’t want to go public with things yet because there’s just so much _pressure_ \--”

A blood-curdling scream of joy comes from the tablet.

“--Brian if you’re shitting me, I’m going to murder you both--”

“--it’s hard to go public with stuff like this when everyone’s been telling you both since dawn of time that you’re probably in love with each other and you’re like, no it’s totally no homo even if we’re both absolutely homos just not for each other but then turns out it _is_ for each other. You know? It can be a lot for a guy to take but you’ve convinced me--I will see you at the wedding, sis-in-law.”

Jae’s sister blinks once, twice, in a gesture that momentarily reminds Brian of Jae.

“Holy shit, I knew it! I freaking knew it! From the moment that I saw you guys together back in your freshman year--”

“--yeah,” Jae says quickly, finally catching on, finally realizing what Brian’s been trying to do, what’s happening. He leans against Brian, reaches a hand up to entwine their fingers, squeezes Brian’s hand. “Me and Brian--errr, BriBri--it’s a thing--”

“--oh god. Brian is _so_ your type. I could just _tell_ ,” Jae’s sister says, clapping her hands together, the sound loud and broken through the speakers. “The way that you would always talk about him. Always Brian said _this_ , Brian said _that,_ Brian’s into emo so I’m going to dye my hair--”

“--can we not talk about that--”

“--oh my god. Was there pining? Who made the first move? And how the hell did your first date go? Or has this been going on for years--”

“--we’ll tell you everything when we get there on Friday, okay?” Jae feels the butterflies in his stomach kicking up a storm. Brian’s still looking at him, still doing his killer-gaze-googly-eyed Brian Kang thing that Jae had seen him give a bajillion other guys before over the years. Brian lets go of Jae’s hand only to play with the soft hair on his nape before leaning in to plant a soft kiss on the thin skin of his neck. Jae feels his stomach drop.  

“Oh my god, you guys are so in love! Hold on, let me get Appa on the phone. I need to tell him--”

“Noona, _please_ !” Jae interrupts. “We’ve got to go for now--we actually have _jobs_ you know? But yeah. Can we hit case closed on this mystery now? I have a boyfriend and a date and you knew it all along so yeah--”

“--fiiiiiiiiiine. Love you baby brother--”

“--love you--”

And with that, Jae hits the red button on the screen. The tablet goes dark and Jae heaves a sigh of relief, collapsing against Brian, who bursts out laughing.

“Dude,” Jae says, shoving at Brian playfully. “That’s not what I meant when I said _save me_ but thanks.”

Brian shrugs, grinning. “Frankly, it was painful to listen to. You guys have been having that conversation since the dinosaurs still roamed the earth.”

Jae raises an eyebrow. “You know you’ll have to actually _go_ with me to the wedding now, right?”

Brian grins, walking back to the couch and lying back down to read his book. He turns a page.

“Yeah, I know.”

  


The thing about Brian is that Jae’s sister is 50,000% right about him, about Jae--he’s basically Jae’s type if it crawled out of his mind and planted itself in his freshman dorm: eyes to kill and a jaw that you could cut glass on and a smile that could burn a hole in an iceberg coupled with a personality brighter a thousand splendid suns and a brain so quick it made Jae feel like a lump of coal. From the moment that Jae first saw him, first talked to him, first laughed at one of his jokes, Jae had been smitten, felt his whole world turn upside-fucking-down. But the problem with Brian, Jae decided early on, when he discovered that Brian liked to write down passages from his favorite books on post-it notes and leave them up on the wall to cheer himself--and by extension, Jae--up, was that he was too perfect.

Jae’s been in his share of relationships--and when the thing with Sammy back in highschool didn’t work out despite the fact that they’d been best friends, had dated for four years, had known everything about each other, despite the fact that Jae had come out to his very strict, traditional parents for Sammy, he’d spiralled into a depressive spell: couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t enjoy anything, couldn’t muster the energy to _do_ anything let alone _think_ properly. And if his older sister hadn’t helped him with applications and flown across the country with him then driven his ass down to campus, Jae doubts he would’ve even made it to his dormitory move-in date. It felt like months of swimming under thick ice, of looking for a way out but not really having the energy to crack through the surface when he found it.

Enter Brian Kang, all golden light and unquestionable strength, Brian for whom there existed no problem that didn’t have a myriad of possible solutions--laughing at Brian’s lame joke about changing his name had been the first time that Jae laughed in what felt like years.

And as Jae watched Brian that morning, lip curled up in concentration as he stuck up a note that read, _“Only what is entirely lost demands to be endlessly named: there is mania to call the lost thing until it returns”- Gunter Grass_ onto their kitchen counter, he’d decided he would never do anything to endanger whatever special friendship they had. Because if Jae lost Brian, he knew that he wouldn’t survive that.

Of course, it hurt to see Brian go out with other guys--hurt like a bitch when he left Jae a note telling him not to wait up because he’d spend the night with whoever-the-boyfriend-of-the-semester-was, and of course it hurt Jae too to date guy after guy, hoping for love and knowing at the end of it that he was leaving perfectly good people for no reason other than they just weren’t Brian Kang, but in the end, Jae thinks today, as he sits on the foot of his bed, watching Brian finish pack his suitcase for the weekend, it’s all worth it. Because they get to stay best friends, get to live together, get to spend almost every waking minute with each other. And if there’s something that Jae wouldn’t give up for the world, it’s to see Brian crumpled into a ball under the covers right before he wakes up, it’s Brian half-asleep as he finishes a novel while sprawled on their couch, it’s Brian holding him close after he has a nightmare.

“There,” Brian says, clicking the lock on his suitcase in place and getting up and off it. “Finally. Everything’s in there.”

“Jeez,” Jae jokes. “Why do you have so much _stuff_?”

Brian shrugs. “I wanted there to be options.”

“It’s a wedding,” Jae says, shrugging. “It’s like. A tux, a suit for the rehearsal dinner, and then it’s baggy shorts and ratty shirts from there.”

Brian grins. “I wanted to make a good impression.”

Jae furrows his eyebrows. “It’s my family. You’ve met them before. My Appa will make uncomfortable noises and my Eomma will ask awkward questions and my Noona will you know, ask about our non-existent sex life.”

“Yeah,” Brian says. “But this time’s different.”

Jae feels himself blush, wondering about the weekend to come. He glances up at Brian who’s looking at him with a small, tentative smile.

“What? Why?”

Brian shakes his head. “Nothing.”

“Right,” Jae says, getting off the bed and picking up his suitcase. “Shall we?”

  


The house is the same as Jae remembers: same lawn, same white walls, same forest-green paint, same porch with the cracked varnish on the fourth step--but what he doesn’t expect as they pull up in the taxi are his parents and his sister standing on the said porch, waiting for them with big, eager smiles.

“Christ, they look so happy,” Jae says in half-dread. “The suburban dream: prodigal son returns home with boyfriend in tow.”

Brian grins, reaching down to entwine their fingers together. “I hate when  you talk about me like I’m a burden, babe.”

“Christ, are we doing pet names--”

“--you’ve really got to _sell_ it, Park.”

“Whatever you say,” Jae says, not wanting to admit to himself how good Brian’s hand feels in his--how warm and broad and safe. “Honey.”

“I like that. Bri Honey, Honey BriBri has a kind of ring to it.”

“Don’t get used to it.”

“Why not, babe?”

“If they find out I’m lying, they’ll never forgive me.”

Brian squeezes his hand, plants a small kiss on Jae’s cheek. Jae finds his heart racing for more reasons than one. He glances at Brian--dark hair, big smile, those eyes looking into his.

“Trust me.”

 

 

“Well,” Jae’s dad says as he opens the door to Jae’s old room, setting down their suitcases. Jae looks at the room, eyes wide in mixed horror and excitement to see that his parents had replaced his old single bed with the double bed from the guest room (roomy for one, but cramped for two), had scattered roses on the duvet--and left a bottle of lube and a box of condoms out on the nightstand. “We made a couple of alterations to your room so that you and Brian feel more at home--”

“--oh dear god--”

“--no,” Mr. Park says, shaking his head. “I--I know that your Eomma and I behaved less than desirably when you--what’s the term? Told us about yourself--”

“--came out as gay,” Jae finishes for his father.

“Yes. We behaved terribly. It isn’t an excuse but we just didn’t want you to get hurt. We wanted you to be safe and ended up making you feel unsafe in our company instead--”

“--Appa, please, all of this is great but you don’t have to--”

“--you didn’t come home for _seven years_. We don’t want to do that again, to ever make you feel like you can’t talk to us or can’t come visit us. In LA, you would only ever meet us when you could bring Brian and now it all makes sense but back then we thought you hated us but I suppose you just loved Brian--”

“--okay, that wasn’t about--”

Mr. Park holds a hand up to silence Jae.

“--will you let me finish talking? Brian is a nice young man and we want both of you to feel welcome here. Please. Let us be there for you. It can be our wedding gift to your sister."

“Thank you, Appa. I mean--it’s awkward but I appreciate it.” Jae feels his eyes sting with tears at the struggle, the earnestness of his father’s voice. He rests a hand softly on his dad’s shoulder. “And for the record, I forgave you guys for that a billion years ago.”   


 

“So,” Jae’s sister says, grinning as they sit at the dining table for dinner. “How did it finally happen? Spill the juicy details.”

“Noona, we’re eating--”

“--no, no,” Mrs. Park says, smiling. “Please. I _love_ love stories. Really, I should’ve known. But I didn’t know that Brian was even gay--”

“--I get that a lot,” Brian says, sipping from his orange juice before leaning his head against Jae’s shoulder. “I’m not sure why, though. I mean I thought I made it perfectly clear that I was whipped for this gorgeous man right here right from the start--”

Jae kicks Brian under the table.

Brian only squeezes his hand tighter, leans in to plant a kiss on his cheek.

“Whipped?” Mrs. Park asks, glancing between them.

Brian nods. “I was enamored, entranced, absolutely enthralled by him. It was love at first sight, really. I saw him standing there in the hallway--this tall, lanky drink of water, a bespectacled vision with silky dark hair and I just thought _wow_ , he’s gorgeous--”

“--liar,” Jae says, nudging Brian’s shoulder. “You did _not_ see me in the hallway. We first met in the dorm room, remember? And anyway, they weren’t asking about how we met, they were asking about how we got together.”

“I’m _getting_ there. Why are you in such a rush?” Brian beams at Jae’s family. “He’s such a Virgo. As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, I first saw him in the hallways of the dorms: this beautiful, alabaster prince looking up at me through silver frames. And for years, I was in love with him in silence, pining like a lovelorn idiot. I was shamelessly, head-over-heels in love with him, I just didn’t know what to do or how to tell him that I loved him. Plus he had all of these other boyfriends who were always coming over and trying to impress me, gain bestfriend favors.”

Jae blinks, is caught off guard because that part is true: his ex-boyfriends always _had_ tried to suck up to Brian--Mark trying to buy Brian coffee, Joshua offering to do his homework, Kevin offering to get him a good discount on the books at the bookshop where he worked.

“Oh my goodness,” Jae’s sister says, grinning. “How did you even deal with that? Were you super jealous?”

“Absolutely livid.” Brian nods, kissing Jae’s knuckles.

Jae furrows his eyebrows, wondering at the earnestness in Brian’s expression, his voice.

“It drove me crazy. Jae--well, I’m sure you guys know that Jae is one of the sweetest, warmest, kindest people in the world and he’s easy to fall in love with. I understood all of his ex-boyfriends and the sucking up--I wouldn’t want to lose him either. If I were them and knew that Jae lived with his bestfriend for years and then that bestfriend turned out to look like me--I mean, not to brag, but I’ve heard it enough times, sure, I know I’m handsome--I’d take all of the necessary precautions too. Jae’s the kind of guy that if you had him and you lost him, you’d just go insane. That said, I never let any of them do me any of those favors. I mean, come _on._ I had to take precaution too.”

Jae opens his mouth to say something but closes it again when he realizes that he has nothing to say that could refute that--Brian _hadn’t_ ever let any of Jae’s ex-boyfriends do any of the favors they offered.

Brian glances at him. “You okay there, babe? Should I go on with the story?”

“Well fine but I gotta say something,” Jae tries, hoping that his face isn’t as red as it is warm. “I mean--I only ever got into those relationships anyway because I thought that Brian didn’t think of me that way.”

It’s Brian’s turn to let his gaze linger a little bit longer on Jae’s face. “Right. Well, one night last spring I was thinking about how I’m turning twenty-five this year and how I really shouldn’t waste any time letting the love of my life date other people.”

“ _Letting_ me,” Jae repeats in disbelief. “He says it like he had a choice!”

“I had a choice about my own actions,” Brian says, his gaze so serious that Jae’s heart leaps into his throat. _He’s just acting, don’t be an idiot._ “And I decided to tell him. He was cooking us dinner--”

“--hah,” Jae’s sister interjects. “He says _cooking_ \--”

“--fine,” Brian relents, grinning. “He was microwaving our pizza. But I sat him down at the kitchen table and said, look, I’ve been in love with you for years and you don’t have to love me back but I just thought you should know.”

“And then?” Mr. Park asks eagerly, his eyes wide in anticipation. “What did Jae say?”

Brian opens his mouth to say something but Jae beats him to the punch. When he speaks, his voice is soft, tender. He leans over and plants a kiss on the corner of Brian’s mouth. Brian flinches in surprise. Jae squeezes his hand under the table.

“I asked what the hell took him so long.”   


 

“You’re ridiculous, you know that?” Jae says, shifting in bed next to Brian as they lie awake later in the evening. He’s forgotten just how quiet it gets in the suburbs--there’s only the sound of the house’s hinges and planks creaking, of the branches swaying in the wind, of the crickets coming alive in the night.

The bed is too cramped for both of them to lie down comfortably so Brian shifts a little, turning to face Jae who has his back against the wall. Their knees touch under the covers but neither of them move away.

Brian lets out a small, soft laugh. “Sorry. I guess I went a bit overboard. It’s the part of me that moved to LA in the hopes of becoming an actor.”

“Whatever, Comparative Literature Librarian.”

“You say that like it’s an insult.” Brian adjusts the covers, drapes part of the duvet to cover Jae’s feet. “Did I lay it on too thick?”

“Nahhh,” Jae says, smiling to himself, grateful that it’s dark, the only light coming in from the streetlamp outside. “It was fine. Go big or go home, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Jae nods. “I mean they bought it.”

“Right.” Brian pulls the covers to his chin. “Yeah, they seemed really entertained.”

“Hey, Bri?”

“Mmmm?”

“You realize that at some point this weekend, we might have to actually kiss, right?”

A pause, a moment of silence. Brian shifts so that he’s propped up on his elbow, looking down at the outline of Jae’s face in the moonlight, takes in the line of his nose, the curve of his lips.

“I mean. Yeah, it’s crossed my mind.”

“We don’t have to go that far with it if you don’t want to,” Jae half-whispers in the dark. “I don’t ever want to ruin our friendship.”

Brian smiles before laying his head back down on the pillow. He puts his arms slowly around Jae, gives him a big hug.

“You’re an idiot if you think a kiss or two is going to ruin our friendship.”

Jae grins, his heart flooding with relief. He puts his arms around Brian too, holding him close. Jae feels sleep fall over him slowly like a blanket settling after it’s been unfurled. He grins, holding Brian’s cheek to his chest, pressing the softest kiss to Brian’s forehead, taking in the familiar smell of Brian’s shampoo.

“Goodnight, Bri.”

Brian smiles at the way that Jae goes lax in his arms, a soft snore escaping his lips as he falls asleep.

“Goodnight, babe.”


	2. It’s Just The Way You Move, The Way You Move Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dance, a drive, an old love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs referenced in this chapter are Lies by Big Bang and You Don’t Know Me by Michael Buble.

“No, no, no, no, no,” the dance instructor says, pulling Jae’s sister and her fiance apart. “Not like that. You have to really _hold_ her.”

“Hold her? Dude, I’m holding her.” He readjusts his hands on her waist, pulls Jae’s sister even closer.

“Yes, but with _emotion_ , like this is the last dance and you’re never going to hold her again after this.”

“But...I _am_ going to hold her. For as long as we both shall live. It’s literally what the vows say.”

“I’m just a really bad dancer,” Jae’s sister is saying, grinning sheepishly. She nods over at Jae. “It runs in our family.”

“Um, speak for yourself? Have you seen me do the worm? Also, explain to me again: why does there have to be a rehearsal...for the rehearsal dinner?” Jae asks, crossing his arms.

“It’s to iron out the details,” Brian pipes up. “The rehearsal dinner is about timing--how long the speeches are, how long it’ll take to serve the food. But the pre-rehearsal is about the actual content. Dancing, food tasting.”

He and Jae are standing off to the side of the dance floor, watching as Jae’s older sister and her fiance awkwardly attempt at dancing. Brian has his arm casually slung around Jae’s waist, his chin tucked over the back of Jae’s shoulder. The warmth from the constant contact is making Briansweat under his sweater that he’s worn to the pre-rehearsal rehearsal but a part of him is getting used to it too, is starting to really enjoy this whole pretend-dating, always-being-around-Jae thing.

“How do you even know that stuff?” Jae asks.

Brian shrugs. “What, a guy can’t be sensitive?”

Jae’s older sister looks at Jae pointedly. “If you let this one go, I’m going to murder you and there’ll be a Buzzfeed Unsolved episode about it.”

“Jae’s a great dancer,” Brian says, starting to sway, wrapping both hands around Jae’s waist. “Wanna see?”

“Shut up, Bri,” Jae says, not being able to help giggling despite himself as Brian nuzzles his neck. “Unless you actually _want_ me to dance the worm.”

“Oh I’d love to see that!” Jae’s sister says in anticipation. She glances at the dance instructor and then up at her fiance. “Maybe we can take five?”

Brian grins, disentangles himself from Jae long enough to hold out his hand. “Shall we dance?”

Jae rolls his eyes but takes Brian’s hand. “Dude, I’m warning you.”

Brian laughs, dragging Jae onto the dance floor.

“Ye of little faith. Could you guys play You Don’t Know Me? The Buble version? If you don’t have it, I have it on my iPod--”

Jae raises an eyebrow. “--why?”

Brian shrugs. “I’m a romantic.”

“We’ve got it.” Jae’s sister finds the right track, hits play.

Michael Buble’s voice fills the hall, soft and sonorous at the same time, the gentle percussions rising and falling in time, the piano rising as Brian puts Jae’s hand on his shoulder, puts a hand on Jae’s waist.

 _You give your hand to me_  
_And then you say hello_  
_I can barely speak_  
_My heart is beating so_  
_And anyone can tell_  
_You think you know me well_  
_You don’t know me_

Brian mouths _let me lead_ and takes the first step, moving them slowly across the dance floor in soft one-two-threes, maneuvering Jae’s tall frame as they go, making sure they land and turn, glide and twirl to the beat. Brian grins at the look on Jae’s face: soft soft smile, eyes wide under his silver-rimmed glasses. Brian feels his heart skip a beat to see Jae look at him like that-- _could it be?_

 _No you don’t know the one_  
_Who thinks of you at night_  
_Longs to kiss your lips_  
_Longs to hold you tight_

Brian spins Jae out slowly and even Jae is caught off guard at how fluid the movement is--and then Brian tugs him back in, pulls him close as he sashays them to a stop, until he’s holding Jae close, taking one hand in his and entwining their fingers, until they’re just swaying on the dance floor in each other’s arms.

Jae’s sister lets out a low whistle, jokingly clinks a fork up against a glass sitting on the table nearby.

Brian glances up at Jae. Jae raises his eyebrows--a question.

Brian grins.

An answer: slowly, slowly, Brian puts a hand up to Jae’s nape, leans up until their noses brush against each other, until their eyes flutter shut, until the distance between them closes in a soft, tender kiss. Brian feels like his heart might jump right out of his throat--because kissing Jae is better than anything that he’s ever imagined.

 _Oh I’m just a friend_  
_That’s all I’ve ever been_  
_‘Cause you don’t know me_

Jae’s sister, her fiance, and their dance instructor burst into applause.

Jae and Brian pull apart but can’t stop grinning at each other.

Brian doesn’t bother to even try to be humble, instead shrugs, smug--at which Jae rolls his eyes but slips his hand into Brian’s nonetheless as they walk off the dancefloor. Brian feels his heart skip at the casualness of the gesture, at the fact that Jae initiated it, wonders what would’ve happened if he hadn’t chickened out of his plans: ones that he’d made that first year in college and then backed out of when Jae started going out with Mark, ones that he’d made when they moved into their small loft together after college and then chickened out of when he realized that starting something with Jae would mean the possibility of things ending, ones that he’d made the week before and had been interrupted by Jae’s sister calling him on Skype--which kind of spiraled into _this_ thing which Brian supposes is kind of a long-drawn-out version of his original plan.

_That is, if Jae doesn’t hate me by the end of it._

“Wow,” Jae’s sister’s saying. “You guys--wow--I hate to say it but Bri, I think you’ve taught my brother to dance--”

Brian grins. “--you _can_ teach an old dog new tricks--”

“--nah,” Jae says, letting Brian’s hand go only to throw an arm over Brian’s shoulders. “That’s just what you call _chemistry,_ Noona. Look it up. We should have like a ship name.”

“Burrrrrrn,” Jae’s sister’s fiance says, grinning.

“Hashtag JaeBri,” Brian pipes up, basking in the attention, loving the way that Jae’s looking at him like he’s the only person in the world that matters, the way that a blush has climbed its way onto Jae’s pale cheeks and settled there.

“Nah,” Jae says. “Hashtag Jaehyungparkian. You can have all of me.”

 

For Brian, it happened before the dorm room--because Brian was telling the truth at dinner: before moving in, he’d decided to go on an adventure, to explore the dorm building. He’d moved to California from South Korea and didn’t really know anyone, could speak English fluently but wasn’t quite sure what to _say_ to people with whom he had virtually zero things in common. Did he talk about k-pop? Literature? Anime? Did he make use of his background as a foreign exchange student? Or did he not let it define him? All of the advice his friends back home had given him conflicted with one another--so he’d decided not to take any of it and just didn’t talk to anyone except the registrar.

He walked up until the fifth floor, did a small tour of the bathrooms, the common areas, noting the small differences--orange couches in some, reused lawn chairs in others, wooden benches in others--before discovering the veranda on the third floor which had a sign that read _No Smoking_ in bright red lettering despite the fact that there was an ashtray right by one of the tables, brimming with cigarette butts. And as he looked over the balcony, he saw him--something out of a fairy tale: hair as dark as night, skin as pale as snow, plump lips rosy from the lollipop he had in his mouth. Silver frames, oversized sweater--and blasting from his earphones: unmistakably, Brian’s favorite song.

_I’m so sorry (sorry) but I love you (love you more more)_

Alabaster, Brian had decided: that’s what he reminded him of. An alabaster prince, right out of a novel. Brian watched as Jae moved his things from the rental car his sister was sitting in--he was tall, lanky, but graceful in his own odd way. He had a gentle way of doing things, bird-like, almost, reminding Brian of a swan: pausing before moving onto the next thing.

Suitcase-pause-walk. Boxes-pause-walk back.

And then Brian remembered that he’d forgotten all about unpacking his own things, that _his_ roommate--who would determine, Brian had read online, 99.9% of his future happiness in college (this was correct, turns out)--would probably be there too, wondering why fate had decided to put him in the same room as a slob. So Brian ran back down to his room on the second floor, started unpacking the three boxes that he’d brought with him. He decided he could live with taking the bunk on the right side which got most of the brunt of the sunshine from the east-facing window in the morning because he could sleep through _anything_. He put his clothes up in the closet, making sure to take up exactly half of it, arranged his books neatly in a pile next to his bed, decided to save the Big Bang posters for later, depending on his roommate’s temperament.

He was halfway through smoothing down the ill-fitting sheets onto the mattress when he walked in. In took Brian half a minute to recover.

Dark hair, that skin that looked so soft he didn’t even have to touch it to know, eyes blinking at him from behind those silver lenses--and at his heels, his sister, dragging a couple of boxes behind her.

“Hi,” Brian said, realizing that he hadn’t heard his own voice in what felt like days. “I’m Brian.”

“Oooooh,”  the Alabaster Prince’s sister said, giving Brian a once-over. “I _told_ you it’d only be a matter of time before you forgot about Sammy--”

“--Noona, _please_ ,” the Alabaster Prince said, his voice cracking with exasperation. He grinned at Brian. “Sorry--”

“--you guys are Korean?” Brian asked, finding relief at hearing his own language spoken.

“Yup. Jae by the way. Park Jaehyung and this is my Noona. If you don’t have one, you can have her.”

Brian grinned. “Brian. Well, Younghyun, but Brian’s going to be my college name.”

“Your college name,” Jae repeated.

“Yeah. You know how people have a wrestling name? Or some writers have a pseudonym? Brian’s going to be the name that gets me out of bed in the morning to do my schoolwork. It’s like being a superhero but for _diligence_ \--”

Jae burst out laughing, his entire body wracked with laughter, a hand reaching out for the mattress of Brian’s bed which he flops onto belly-first. Brian’s caught off guard but in the best way: Jae is laughter hiding in an elegant place, a jester in a prince’s skin. And if there’s anything Brian loves, it’s to laugh.

“Well look at you two getting along.” Jae’s sister put the last of the boxes down on the table. “Well, Jae. Give your big sister a hug. I left you thirty dollars. Take Brian out.”

Brian felt his cheeks burn, felt his heart skip at the thought--and that’d been it. The first of countless evenings he and Jae would spend sitting on their dorm room floor, gorging on pizza and beer, telling each other ridiculous stories, both wondering if the other felt the same, both too afraid to say.

“Coming out _and_ a break up,” Brian said, then, taking a bite of his pizza as Jae told him about Sammy, what he’d been through the past few months. “That sounds terrible. I’ve never had to do either and I look forward to none of it.”

Jae shrugged, raising his beer. “It’s okay. I’ll be here for you when it happens. Cheers to new beginnings, BriBri.”

_BriBri._

Brian grinned, clinking his beer bottle against Jae’s.

“I’ll drink to that.”

 

“What the fuck is he doing here?” Jae freezes, steers Brian in the opposite direction so fast that Brian’s tempted to make a joke about whiplash. They’re at the rehearsal dinner, everything going smoothly--lights, food, speeches, the way that Jae looks resplendent in a navy blue suit and Brian’s pulse is going a mile a minute, the way they’d kissed again in the room while getting ready, the way Jae hasn’t let his hand go the entire time they’d been here--until the door opens and Sammy, Jae’s Sammy, walks through the door, guitar case strung over one shoulder. “Holy shit. Noona never would’ve invited him--”

Brian cranes his neck, trying to catch a glimpse as they find their table and sit down. He looks nothing like Brian had imagined him--from the way that Jae talked about him all those years ago, Brian had imagined a bad boy leaning up against a motorcycle, trying to pilfer beer from the convenience store while wearing a leather jacket. In person, Sammy is a lot smaller, daintier than Brian had thought. A smudge of blonde hair, elfin features, a smile that lent his face a mischievousness to it that Brian admits is charming. He feels an involuntary pang of jealousy--something that takes him by surprise considering the fact that Brian’s gotten used to Jae dating other guys over the years, had trained himself to put on his happy-for-you face.

“--Noona,” Jae hisses, leaning across the table. “What is Kim Woosung doing here, exactly? Explain yourself.”

On stage, the band’s setting up, feedback coming in through the amplifiers. _One, two--test, one two._

“I promise,” Jae’s sister says, eyes wide. “That I didn’t invite him. I didn’t _know_ that he’d be part of the wedding band. The ad just read _best in all of Philly_ and I booked them online and there was no info--”

“--fuck,” Jae says. “You sent him the details, of course? So, then, he _must_ know that I’m--”

And then the music starts playing and a slow, romantic song comes on. The lights dim.

“This is an original,” Sammy says through the mic. Brian sees him glance at Jae, who’s too busy trying to collect himself to see it. “And it’s for my first love.”

Brian sees a tremor of panic move across Jae’s features. He realizes that he’s never seen Jae like this before--sure, he’s seen him sad or jealous or upset at ex-lovers, he’s seen him mad, but somehow has never seen it happen all at once. Jae’s hands are balled into fists.

_Sorry for not turning back.  
Sorry for this selfish self of mine. _

“What an asshole,” Brian says, his tone gentle but firm. “Come on, Jae.”

Jae meets his gaze.

“Let’s get out of here.”

 

They end up walking in the garden, already set up for the festivities for the following night. Everywhere, twinkle lights. Everywhere, the moon illuminating the dew on the leaves of the trees, the blades of grass, the petals of the flowers. Brian likes the way that Jae slips his forearm through the crook of Brian’s elbow, the way that their shoulders brush when they walk.

“You okay?” Brian thinks his voice sounds small, almost stupid, desperate.

But Jae smiles at him. “Yeah. Sorry about the freak out back there. I just--I came out for him, you know? I think that’s what gets to me. I put myself out there and risked losing my family for someone who couldn’t even stay and back me up--”

“--I understand,” Brian says. “But you survived that. Do you want us to walk back in there? We could slow dance, make him jealous.”

To Brian’s surprise, Jae stops in his tracks, turns to face Brian. “Nah. I don’t--I mean. That’s the thing I realized tonight. I’m annoyed he’s here--but I’m glad about other things too.”

Brian tilts his head a little, wondering where this conversation is going.

“Like?”

Jae grins and a shock of electricity goes up Brian’s spine in surprise when Jae leans down to kiss him, pulling him in by the lapels of his coat. Brian recovers quickly--slips his arms around Jae’s waist, taking in the warmth, the softness, the sweetness of him. Jae parts his lips then and Brian licks into his mouth, both of them sighing into the kiss, both of them wondering how all of this will end.

When they pull away, they’re both breathless.

“Jae,” Brian starts, slipping his hands down to hold Jae’s, wondering if this is finally the right time, the right moment. “Look, I--”

“--it’s okay, Bri,” Jae says, smiling. “We can have this for the weekend. I--why don’t we let ourselves have it for the weekend, huh? I mean is it really so bad--”

“--no,” Brian says, shaking his head, already leaning in for another kiss. “See, the thing is that it really isn’t bad at all.”

Jae grins against Brian’s lips. “Do you think it’ll take more than sex to ruin our friendship?”

Brian laughs but leans up to kiss Jae, letting his lower lip catch between his teeth before they pull away.

“Definitely. It'll take at least a hundred rounds to even make a dent."

 

The rest of the night is a flurry of heat and the rustling of sheets--they make love as quietly as they can despite the emtpiness of the house: the space feels sacred somehow. All of it is different than they’d imagined, if only because it’s infinitely better. Brian marvels at how beautiful Jae looks in the silver darkness of the bedroom, how his milk skin lights up in the moonlight. Brian is in awe at how good Jae is at everything: how willing to take the lead--and yet, how soft he is as he opens Brian up with deft fingers, as he pushes into him slow but hard, fucks him sweet but close, going until both of them can’t go anymore, until they’ve spilled into latex, onto the sheets, dripped onto each other.

By the time that they hear Jae’s parents pulling into the garage, the front door opening, they're both sitting up in bed, breathless and sated.

“What’re you thinking?” Jae asks softly, the reality of everything--how they’d gotten here, what they’d done--finally sinking in.

Brian smiles, afraid again, but knowing that if there’s any time to say what he’s going to say it might as well be now.

“I don’t want to pretend-date you anymore.”

“Oh.” A look of hurt crosses Jae’s face. “I understand. I mean--yeah I mean I guess it might be w--”

“--I want to real-date you.”

And for the first time in his life, Park Jaehyung is speechless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twitter/CC: @teenuviel1227 
> 
> Third/final chapter will be up tomorrow.


	3. Forgive Me, Love--I Can’t Turn & Walk Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading and to Errie for trusting me with this. :) I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> I still have six (6) slots open for commissions; you can see the info in my pinned tweet on Twitter.
> 
> Twitter/CC: @teenuviel1227

The world slows and for a moment, Jae thinks that he’s heard wrong--but how many ways are there to spin _I want to real-date you_ ? How many ways are there to construe or misconstrue that sentence when you are lying in bed naked and spent, blissful and sated with the man you’ve loved for years? Not a lot of ways it turns out--because it all starts to sink in: there is Brian, _his_ Brian, perfect, funny, brave, sunlit Brian lying in his bed naked after they’ve made love, looking at him with those intense eyes, a small, hopeful smile on his face.

 “Well?” Brian says softly. “Say something.”

Jae opens his mouth to speak but instead all that comes rushing out are tears--they come spilling down his cheeks, sobs slipping out through slightly parted lips. Brian takes him in his arms, holds him closer.

“I’m sorry--it’s okay if you don’t want to. It won’t ruin our friendship, I promise. Even if you don’t feel the same, it won’t change a thing. We can go home and we’ll just pretend like it didn’t happen. I won’t treat you any diff--”

Jae shakes his head, trying to still his tears long enough to get a coherent sentence out as all of the pent up emotions from their years together comes raining down on him: Brian picking him up after all those break ups, Brian cooking them breakfast on weekends, Brian waking him up and spooning him after he’d had a bad dream, Brian volunteering to be his date to his sister’s wedding, Brian kissing him on the dancefloor, Brian saving him from heartache.

Brian wanting him back.

Brian wanting him just as much as Jae’s wanted him.

“--I want to,” Jae says, gasping for breath. “I really--there’s nothing that I want more. I’m just overwhelmed. Let’s do it. Let’s ruin the goddamn friendship--”

Brian grins, plants a soft kiss on Jae’s lips, wipes his tears away where they’ve streaked down his cheeks.

“--and what do you think that’ll take? 50,000 cuddles? 12,000 rounds of really hot sex?”

Jae lets out a small laugh, moving a leg and straddling Brian, pinning him to the bed. Jae grins, thinks that Brian looks adorable with his eyes wide in shock, hair poofed out on the pillow, a bright smile on his lips.

“Maybe,” Jae says, kissing softly down Brian’s neck. “I mean we could try that--”

To his surprise, Brian’s arms come around his waist, pulling him down and holding him close so that his cheek rests on Brian’s chest. Brian lifts Jae’s chin, tilts his face to his before leaning in to kiss him slow but deep, all tongue and longing, teeth lingering at the swell of flesh of his lower lip, savoring the moment.

“--or you could just let me love you for as long as you’ll have me,” Brian whispers against Jae’s lips, his thumb lingering on Jae’s lower lip, his chin even as they pull away. “That might do it. Might just ruin the friendship real good.”

Jae sighs, giving into Brian’s embrace, listening to the _thump, thump, thump_ of Brian’s heartbeat in his chest.

“Alright. Let’s try that.”

  


The reception is abuzz with activity--the first dance and the cutting of the cake, the parents’ speeches were done inside the main ballroom, but now the party’s moved outside. The entire garden is lit up with fairy lights, the dancefloor crowded with couples. Jae’s sister and her husband are slow dancing, lights lit up with smiles that they can’t quite hold back. Everywhere, people in beautiful gowns and sharp suits cheers, clinking their champagne flutes together, laughter ringing out over the landscape like a veil of clouds over the stars.

Brian and Jae have chosen to walk down with their glasses of champagne to the narrow, man-made river on the far end of the property, away from the buzz of the party. Hand-in-hand, they go slowly down the stone path, across the small bridge that straddles the small body of water. Strains of piano music drift down from the celebrations. They stop in the middle of the bridge, look down at the dark water on which the reflection of the moon is a bright silver.

“Tell me the truth,” Jae says, nudging Brian’s shoulder with his. “Did you have all this in mind when Noona called that day?”

Brian chuckles, takes a sip from his glass of champagne. The past twenty-four hours or so have been surreal for him--the luxury of being able to hold Jae, to kiss Jae, to have Jae make love to him, to tell him how he feels and have Jae say the words back; all of it seems like something out of a dream.

“I was going to tell you how I felt right before she called and I was trying to sleep the annoyance away--”

“--you were going to tell me how you felt on a _Tuesday_? When were having the microwave pepperoni for dinner?”

Brian shrugs. “I mean I tried planning before and it all sucked, so I decided to just go with whenever I felt like it and I felt like it that day. But then Noona called and I was like _foiled again_ so I figured I’d take what I could get. Also she kept talking about setting you up with someone and I just thought fuck if I let this happen to me again--”

“--you talk about that like _you_ never dated other people. It was torture for me too, you know,” Jae says softly, leaning his head against Brian’s.

Brian shrugs. “Yeah but I always thought you knew that I was only ever doing it because I didn’t think you’d want to date me. I only ever got with people after _you_ started dating someone new. And why didn’t _you_ ever say anything?”

“Because it’s _you_ ,” Jae says, smiling a soft, shy smile.

“Gee, thanks.”

“No, I mean, you’re perfect. And if I lost you, I don’t think I’d survive that.”

Brian grins. “Lucky you you’ll never have to survive that--’cause you’re never going to lose me. You don’t get off the hook that easy.”

“Yeah,” Jae nods. “Yeah, lucky me.”

Brian raises his glass. “To happy endings.”

Jae clinks his glass against Brian’s.

“I’ll drink to that.”


End file.
